FAMILY PHOTO
Warning: the Maudlin Level is now at red. If that makes you as uncomfortable as it often makes me, you should skip down a post to see a cute baby being manipulated by its parents and forced -- probably at gunpoint -- to perform to the Unofficial FARBlog Theme Song for purposes of endless YouTube amusement.


Besides sharing a status as underappreciated-but-brilliant Kensington authors, Becky Cochrane and I have both gone through the passing of our mothers in recent weeks. At Saints & Sinners, she was a great source of quiet comfort to me. As I wrote her last night,

I knew your mother was quite ill; I didn't know it was quite that close. Maybe you didn't, either. And yet you (and Tim) were there for me in a way I needed at the time... caring and close, and respecting my space. I regret I can't be there for you in the same way right now, but I know you are surrounded by people who love you and your mother. And who will give you your own space to grieve.

I also let her know that, in the month since my mother died, I hadn't cried. Until yesterday. There was something about Becky's tribute to her mother that let me finally find some release. A beautiful woman's simple, loving words about another beautiful woman can do that to a person. Even without trying, Becks can rock my world with a few words. She's my hero in too many ways.

Now... don't worry: I'm not going to turn this into an all-mother/all-the-time blog. We're all grown-ups; we know what's going to happen to everyone eventually. To me before you, probably. Not to mention, as an adult I wasn't a mama's boy (not really a papa's boy, either, but that's a subject for another day. My gene pool came complete with teh geigh and teh issues.)

Still, I think one final(ish) upload is in order. As I noted last month, the family got in some good quality time before things went downhill again, and a few cameras came out in the process. I've had this for a few weeks, but, well... didn't want to deal with it. Thanks to Becky, maybe now I can.

So here is the final photo of my mother, my sister Marje, and me, from last March, just after her 71st birthday.



And... that's that.